PoCampo Blog

12/4/15 Event: Gray's Department Store Opening Party

We're honored to be a part of Gray's Department Store, a Show & Shop of the League of Women Designers. Join us at the opening party as we unveil the latest curiosities by the League of Women Designers, including bike bags (!), housewares, lighting, furniture, clothing, jewelry, and lingerie. Food, drink, and merriment will be had.

The show will be open from December 4th-20th, Tuesdays-Saturdays 12-7 pm, Sundays 12-5 pm. In addition, there will be a special pop-up dining event by Midnight Kitchen Projects on the evening of Saturday, December 12th. All events will be at the Department of Curiosities, 3013 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago, IL 60647. www.departmentofcuriosities.com

The show’s name references Eileen Gray, a touchstone for the LWD group. Gray was a pioneer of modernist design; an architect and designer of furniture, textiles and interiors. Her influential works in the 1920s and 1930s were largely overlooked in her time and the importance of her legacy remains unrecognized to this day. One of her most innovative works, the Villa E-1027 house, for instance, was first attributed to her lover, Jean Badovice, and was later defaced by the most famous architect of her day, Le Corbusier.

Gray’s point of view is particularly relevant to the show’s philosophy. She believed in the “dwelling as a living organism”, a holistic approach to design that put the experience of living at the center. “It is not a matter of simply constructing beautiful ensembles of lines, but above all, dwellings for people.” She brought a much needed sensuality and beauty to the modernist movement that feels fresh to this day.